Hi. We are a design/style LA based company specializing in mixing eclectic styles on moderate budgets. Also we have a strange amount of fun blogging about all our design and style adventures. Right now I’m happy to say that I’m Target’s home spokesperson, bringing accessible/stylish design to the masses.

Let There Be Light...

A Roundup of Affordable Pendants Under $100

When it comes to lighting you have a few different moments to make a statement in your room, and pendant lighting is one of those moments. Although small and often only one or two lights, they can create something special within a room which is why we decided that it was time for us to roundup a handful of our favorites all under $100.

Before we get into, let’s talk for a moment about pendant lights. Traditionally pendant lights (as we mentioned above) are made up of one to two light bulbs that hang from a single unit in the ceiling. Although quite similar to chandeliers, the main difference between the two comes into play with the amount of light bulbs as well as the structure of the light as pendants typically have one to two bulbs and chandeliers can have many more as well as hang from an armed system. So, when do you use a pendant vs a chandelier? Well, there is no hard rule for when you should use one vs the other in your decor other than the aesthetics of how you want it to look as well as how much light you need in the area. If you do need something with quite a bit of light output then going with a chandelier is a safer bet but if you have recessed lighting in the room or the area is small and doesn’t need a lot of additional light then a pendant is a safe bet for you.

Let’s start the roundup with metal shades. These are going to be best used when you want directional light. If this is the only source of light in your room then you typically won’t want to use a metal shade as it will only provide light directionally over one area rather than helping to light the entire room. But, if you do have recessed lighting in the room or another source of light then these guys can work great over a kitchen island, a small dining area, or anywhere else when they are used as a secondary source of light.

Up next are exposed bulb pendants. A quick tip with exposed bulbs is that you will want to install these guys on a dimmer as typically looking directly into an exposed bulb is hard on the eyes so being able to tone down the brightness a bit with a dimmer will help a lot in the functionality and look of the light.

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Next up we have glass shades. These are the most universal of the pendant options as they can be used just about anywhere and the glass shade will help to diffuse the light throughout the room so if needed these options could be the only source of light in your room and still provide an even diffused glow throughout the space.

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Last but not least we have a collection of pendants that are either fibers, fabric, or made of stone/concrete. A few quick tips about these. The fabric shaded options are going to provide an even diffused light much like the glass shaded ones would, whereas the stone/concrete is going to provide more of a directional light for the room so they are best used as an accent light. Then for the fiber or woven options that we have, you will want to keep in mind the shadows that will happen when these are in use due to the structure of the shade and how it will diffuse the light in the room.

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Let us know if you have any questions on any of these or if you have tried any of them below.

Is there an Youxi988 chandelier roundup? I am currently in search of a three-light one for my small dining room, preferably chrome, brass, white, or black. Note: I have low ceilings. Everything I see online seems either too big or too low.

With that, I would like to see some that compliment the pendants. I have an open living room/kitchen concept. My pendants over the bar are milkglass globes with antique brass from West Elm. I’m looking for a fun chandelier to compliment, not match, the living room. HELP!!!! 🙂

I have those same lights over my kitchen island. We also have recessed lighting. We added a cheap Ikea pendant with a black metal shade similar to #1 in the roundup of metal shades above over our eat in/breakfast nook and we used #7 from CB2 in the exposed bulb roundup above over our kitchen sink. Love the look of all those together. We also have a relatively open flow between rooms and have the West Elm mobile chandelier in black over the den area that flows into the kitchen – I think it looks great as we have a nice mix of black/oil-rubbed bronze and brass throughout the house and the lights work together well. Still hunting for the right fixture for over the dining table that also flows into the kitchen from a different angle. Actually thinking about doing the one Emily used in her friend Corbett’s dining room. It has to speak well to the fixture in the den as well as we have sort of a circular layout and they are all open to each other with fairly minimal walls between. Figuring out lighting is so tricky! Hope this helps.

Thank you soooo much. I have been stuck with one of my overhead lights, not sure of what shade type or scale to get. I knew metal/concrete shades were too directional but was just confused about the rest of them, and now I can really make a good decision! You have literally answered a question I emailed to a Q&A podcast elsewhere. Looks like a glass shade is what I need. Now to figure out if I want a larger size single bulb pendant or more of a small chandelier…

I currently have 2 of the West Elm Glass Shades (#1 above) in clear. I love the look but not the quality. The glass shade sits on a cord kit and the shade doesn’t have a rubber ring on the piece that sits on the cord so is raw glass which is rough. It never sits straight and I am constantly adjusting them as they look crooked. Kind of hard to explain but just poorly designed. I also had to order several as most had unflattering bubbles or imperfections in the glass that were distracting.

I have the same problem! Buyer’s remorse over a pendant from Lowe’s. The clear globe makes the quality of light ugly and shows the bulb which is always crooked. I’m wondering if I can paint the glass to be opaque?

You can probably buy a replacement globe from Lowe’s. They have a section of all different sizes and shapes of replacement globes. Bring your old one in and find an opaque one that matches. Painting glass won’t give you the result you’re looking for.

Good roundup! I’ve been spending lots of time looking at light options lately since the house I’m in is desperate for it. I’d love to see a stylish ceiling fan round up, especially one that includes at least a few options that handle real bulbs (as opposed to integrated led light kits) since my home is Smart light controlled and my man and I are polarized on whether styles trumps technological toys (such as color changing Philips Hue lights), haha. Our 100+ degree summers make ceiling fans a must, but everything I like won’t allow him use of his fancy lighting system…

I have a question about pendant lights – are they hard to get hanging plum? I’ve seen a lot of photos, including some of the product photos above, where they look a little off-kilter, and I’ve always been wary of having them for fear they will be forever tilted. Is this a valid concern, is it challenging to get them to look right?

But the real question remains unanswered – what is the proper height of a pendant?? I’ve seen them 2 feet from a table (so low you have to crane your neck when seated to see the person on the other side), or 1 foot from the ceiling (so high it’s out of the line of sight). Help! What’s the ideal hanging length? Should I be measuring from the table or from the ceiling? Etc.

PS- in the spirit of the survey posted recently- content of this post is great, but could use a copyedit! Lots of good freelancers out there who can help with those run-on sentences and repetitive words 🙂 as a copyeditor myself, had to mention it. But thanks as always for the useful content.

I bought two of the Target glass globe pendants (with the brass top) shown above. They came with a black cord, so I bought a brass tube at a hardware store, had it cut to size, and threaded the black cord through the tube to hang from the ceiling. The brass tube completely covers the black cord. I think it makes them look much more expensive! They don’t give off a lot of light, but I have them over an island with recessed lights. In the dining room, which is open to the kitchen, I have a bamboo, champagne-colored, metal chandelier from Ballard.

This may be a stupid question but here goes… I just bought one of those cool large basket shades for over my dining room table to replace the very dated brass/glass terrarium type pendants from the 80’s however it didn’t come with a pendant so I need to find one. Can someone tell me if my pendant fixture needs to be dimmable or just the bulbs and switch?

Also I’m having a hard time finding a black pendant that will work, WTH? – I want it to have a modern flat mounting cap, fabric cord (or thick round/tubular plastic one) that can be adjusted to the length I want, dimmable?, can mount on a slope and that will hold the shade. Sure World Market and Ikea both have ones but the ceiling medallion pieces are clunky and large…where can I find this – seems simple but I’ve looked all over and am coming up empty. I can only seem to find what I’m looking for in a plug in version not a hardwired. Someone please point me in the right direction!

Brilliant round up…. A few things I’ve found with pendants that may help other readers – I got some lovely small glass pendants to hang as bedside lights. Big mistake as they show ALL the dust when switched on and as they are around head height it’s all I can see. Not a problem if you’re happy to continuously clean them 🙂 Also, I have the IKEA rattan pendant in the third graphic. It’s a beautiful light for the price but it makes a huge pattern (I know Emily mentioned this in the post about woven options, just wanted to reiterate). I have them hung outdoors so it’s not an issue but I would imagine that in a bedroom it would be quite overwhelming, even headache inducing!

Any suggestion for a flushmount fixture that is mounted to a cathedral ceiling? Everytime I look at it in my mom’s kitchen I want to die and I have lots of ideas for the light fixture over her sink and the chandy over her table but this fixture on an angle in the middle of the ceiling prevents me from changing any of them!

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Emily is a stylist, author and T.V. host with a strong commitment to vintage inspired approachable home style for every single person. Perfection is boring; Let’s get weird. learn more

Interior Design Blog by Youxi988

I started this interior design blog in 2010 as a journal of my style and home projects with the belief that design should be approachable, informational and accessible no matter what budget.

As a home style expert who has a strong commitment to peeling back the intimidating layers of the world of home decor, and showing how every person can have a beautiful home that represents their personality, no matter what the budget.

After styling for magazines and catalogues for years, I started my own interior design blog, won HGTV Design Star, and have gone on to host my own hit TV show Secrets from a Stylist, Author the book STYLED, and create the design firm Youxi988 Design.

My motto has always been to write and publish on my blog what I personally want to read about.